Surveyors of the Past by PETER MANSFIELD

Surveyors of the Past BY PETER MANSFIELD poses.) George Lount offered his services Birdsail was in charge of the “compas and immediately ran into a roadblock. He sing”. Proceeds would be divided equally. was underage. And if he waited until his 21st birthday, the work would already be George Lount first established a base done. Lount had to sidestep this problem camp on the Essa line. His plan was to by using his father, Gabriel, as the nom survey across one concession line to the inal contractor. lake (Lake Simcoe), set up camp, and then return the following day by surveying back George surveyed the township of along the next concession line. Thus they West Gwillimbury in the Summer of 1819, would only be out two days at a time. with the help of his brother Samuel. Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out as he Samuel Lount, though never a qualified had hoped. Birdsail turned out to be more surveyor, was a skilled woodsman and thorough and even more slow than im proficient blacksmith and a great help to agined. Also, he had a profound aversion George. In later years, however, he be to offset lines. He believed in running one came a reform politician ultimately pay line and one line only. The result was 3 ing, with his life, for his radical views. or 4 days out at a time. On June 15, 1819, the Lounts re Soon the Lount brothers objected. ceived another contract - for Tecumseth They wouldn’t make any money at this Township. Again, Gabriel acted as nom rate. An altercation ensued with Birdsail inal contractor. The records indicate his challenging Lount to do his own compas payment was some 2368 acres of land. sing if he thought he could do better. Lount Instructions were elaborate calling for the indicated that he certainly could and GEORGE LOUNT southeast corner of the Township to be Birdsail was relegated to tail chainman established by running a line west from and note-keeper. THE MINOR SURVEYOR Yonge Street, 9 miles along the northerly boundary of King Township. Some por The work progressed much more FFICIAL DOCUMENTS of the tions had to be left unsurveyed and were quickly after this. time indicate that the townships not completed until 1832. of West Gwillimbury and In proving his work, Lount chose to O run the line between Lots 25 and 26, from Tecumseth were originally laid out by George Lount was also responsible Gabriel Lount, while the township of In- for the setting out of Innisfil Township. the south side up to Big Bay Point. There, nisfil was set out by one James Pearson. In this case, the nominal contractor was on a snowy March day, having calculated In fact, all were surveyed by George James Pearson, a yeoman from Whitch where the lot corner ought to be, he Lount, a qualified surveyor and the first urch and George’s brother-in-law. Pay positioned himself accordingly, poked in land registrar of Simcoe County. ment amounted to 3800 acres of land, and the snow with his staff and found the stake on his first try. Born on February 3, 1799, George was paid out on May 2, 1820. Lount was the son of Gabriel Lount, an The surveying was done between In addition to being a surveyor, English-born land surveyor who settled in February 1, 1820 and March 15, 1820, George Lount was a tinsmith, a merchant, Catawissa, Pennsylvania. In 1811, Gab despite severe winter conditions. The a farmer and the first postmaster of Hol riel rejected the republicanism of the day plan, drawn by Richard Birdsail, was de land Landing. More significantly how and emigrated to the still British soil of posited in Newmarket on March 24, 1820. ever, he was Simcoe County’s first Land Upper Canada, settling on Lot 84, Conces Registrar, holding that position from 1826 sion 1, E.Y.S. near Whitchurch. Later his Birdsall’s involvement is of some in until his retirement in 1872, when he sons George and Samuel took up Lot 103, terest. Birdsail was himself a surveyor, handed the reins over to his son. Concession 1, W.Y.S. at the top of the trained in England. He was described po Occasionally, George Lount was hill just south of Holland Landing. litely, as being thorough but slow (as op posed to slow, but thorough). It was also overcome by a surveyor’s primal urge to George Lount was bright and ambiti his contention that surveyors not trained “get out in the field” and he would under ous and yet he decided to become a land in Great Britain, were not trained. take another surveying project. One such surveyor, qualifying at the tender age of project was his survey of the Town of 19. At that time, contracts were being Birdsail and the Lount brothers de Amsterdam. On December 23, 1836, he handed out for the surveying of Simcoe cided to survey Innisfil together and they received instructions from Thomas Rid- County. (Simcoe County had actually came to an understanding. The Lounts out, the Surveyor-General, to lay out a been created in 1798 for military pur would look after the chaining, while new town on the south side of the Holland 14 THE ONTARIO LAND SURVEYOR, WINTER 1985 River, to be named, appropriately, preceding the election, some 55 patents Samuel’s wife who begged on her knees Amsterdam. The town was to develop were distributed in Medonte Township. for her husband’s life. The governor’s around a planned storehouse to be built in This compares with 24 in all of 1835 and only comment was, “This petition seals connection with the heavy traffic of boats just 13 in all of 1837.) his death”. Samuel Lount was hanged on on the lake. Street names were “Hollan- The votes were bought successfully April 12, 1838, behind the Adelaide Street dic” - De Ruyder, De Witt, Van Dyke, and Lount was defeated. In the months Courthouse in Toronto. Rubens and Keyser. In the end, the town that followed, however, disaffection for These tragic events did nothing to was never built. The coming of rail travel the system grew amongst much of the improve George Lount’s opinion of politi diminished the importance of lake travel. population. In Holland Landing, Samuel cians. He often found himself at odds with In 1869 Thomson Smith obtained the pa Lount began to train an “army” of south them. In 1842, he proposed that a road be tent to the Town of Amsterdam and built Simcoe farmers. Arms were forged in his constructed from Barrie, on Lake Simcoe, a saw-mill. blacksmith shop. In December of 1837 to the mouth of the Nottawasaga River During the course of the Amsterdam Lount led them down Yonge Street to (Wasaga Beach) on Georgian Bay. The survey, George Lount suffered great per North York, where they joined up with county council turned it down flat on Jan sonal loss as a result of the 1837 Upper rebel leader William Lyon MacKenzie at uary 2, 1843. Lount was unperturbed. Canada Rebellion. Montgomery’s Tavern. That summer, working with Henry Cres- wicke, the county surveyor, George Lount In 1834 his brother Samuel was On December 7, 1837, the one day surveyed the proposed route at his own elected to the Upper Canada Legislature revolution took place ending when a can expense. The following year, council re as the member for Simcoe County. He nonball crashed through the wall of the versed its decision on the road and used was a reformer who took issue with the tavern where the 700 fighters were holed the Lount/Creswicke survey in the by-law ways and means of the “Family Compact” up. description. which ruled covetously, raising patronage Samuel Lount tried to escape to the to a form of religion. On May 28, 1836, United States, but was captured trying to In 1846, the Simcoe County seat Sir Francis Bond Head dissolved parlia cross Lake Erie in an open boat. He was moved to Barrie and George Lount had to ment and called a snap election. Deter condemned to death for treason along with do the same. (Commuting was somewhat mined to rid himself of Samuel Lount, Peter Matthews, another rebel. George slower in the 1840’s as the 400 had yet Head began distributing land patents to Lount organized a well-signed petition to be built.) half-pay officers and soldiers with the un urging the Governor, Sir George Arthur, Lount continued as Land Registrar derstanding that they would return the to commute his brother’s sentence. The until his retirement in 1872. He died in favour on election day. (In the five weeks petition was presented to his Lordship by 1874. •.

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